San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1887-11-04
CHAPTER III.

1t was at this somewhat critical Juno
ture that Lord Staines took it into his
head to come down to Staines Court, with
the avowed intention of remaining there
for a considerable time. His arrival,
which had been preceded by that of his
French cook, his house steward, his groom
of the chambers, and heaven only knows
how many other domestic functiOnaries
flor his style of living had always been far
in excess of that warranted by his incOme),
caused quite a little stir in the vicinity,
and set everybody cOnjecturing as to its
causes. What these were was revealed
to us the next morning by Lady Mildred,
who lost no time in walking over to see
my mother
Papa has been very unlucky this
year." she said, in her gentle matter of
course way. First of all, his horse lost
the Derby by head, as you know"-
my DEAR" interrupted my mother, IT
am afraid l know nothing about the
Derby, except that it is race which takes
place every spring"
mo, you wouldn't But papa knows a
great deal about it, and even | know
something Premier must have won if he
had not been interfered with. 1t was no
body's fault, but it was poor papa's mis-
fortune; and since then he has been I'M
lucky at Ascot also. So there is to be no
yachting this summer, and we are going
to remain here quietly and ask hardly
anybody to stay with us, and Bracknell is
coming down in few days, so that it will
be quite like old times again. But | am
afraid he will find it too dull TO stay long"
Bracknell at the age of % was probably
very much what my tutor had anticipated
that he would be. He was one of the
handsomest young men about London; he
was immensely in request v It'll that class
who have come to be known IN these latter
days as "smart people," is affairs de
cCzur had been numerous al / a trifle os-
tenIatious; he was owner, o. part owner,
of several horses which h d achieved q
certain celebrity. and he was pretty deeply
ia debt. ! should be PUZZLE to say what
good qualities he possessed 3yond that of
pluck, but / do not in the &c st wonder at
his great popularity. Jim, who persisted
in regarding him as a bright particular
star, wac overjoyed on hearing that he
proposed to honor our quiet neighbor-
hood with his presence for a time, and it
struck me that Hilda's eyes glistened
"A4NAI ShSSAihS was SOLl-
veyed to her.
We al-that is, the Turner'S, Jim and
myself-were invited to dine at Staines
Court on the evening of his arrival; and
declare that we had not been seated at
the table for five minutes before it was
perfectly clear to me that Miss Hilda in
tended to make him her captive. What
put this beyond doubt was the obsti-
macy with which she declined to have any
thing to say to him. Lord Staines, who
took her into dinner, was obviously de-
pressed and preoccupied when we sat
down; but Hilda put forth all her very
considerable powers Of pleasing, and by
the time that the fish was removed
she had contrived TO put her neigh
Dor in the best of good spirits. No
man was more truly appreciative of
feminine beauty and wit than Lord
Staines. Meanwhile Bracknell, who
had old Turner on his right hand, speed
lily realized that he had a very charming
person on his left; and it was not a little
amusing to see the look of blank aston
ishment which overspread his features
when, after repeated attempts to attract
Hildas notice, it dawned upon him that
she really preferred his fathers CONVEX
satton to his own. / suppose that never
before in his life had he known a charm
ing person display such extraordinary
taste. In vain he brought his ingenious
arts to bear upon her and forced her to